Discussion on Kaylee's character
POSTED BY: Momaw
UPDATED: Saturday, January 24, 2004 21:31
VIEWED: 8543
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Does anybody else feel that Kaylee's apparently loose attitude toward sex is out-of-character for her? Really it was sort of disappointing to see her with Fester in "Out of Gas". The way she walks away from him without a second glance indicates to me that she's got no feelings for him, perhaps used him just as the price of admission to get onboard Serenity and check out the engine.
I won't say that she comes across as innocent, but certainly a "good" girl. Not law-abiding ("What are we up to?" "Crime!"), just good; moral, with a sense of traditional values. That's why Simon is a good one for her, he's also moral and traditional. And probably why she was attracted to the guy (who's name I can't remember) in "The Message", with him going on about friendship and family.
Guess another way to look at it is she seems to have fun in her life, harmless fun, joking, laughing, always a smile. Casual sex just doesn't seem to fit into the same category.
And the way everybody is always protecting her, very kind, sort of like the child on the crew. Jayne is the only person to take a shot at her, and he's... well, that's just what he's like. When Kaylee is humiliated or afraid, we feel for her. How do you reconcile that vulnerability with...
Anyway. Is there a body in this verse thinkin' the same as me? Was her thing with Fester part of her rebellious teens, and she's out of that phase now?
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Could be that the thing w/ Fester was just a rebellious teen thing, could be just like Fester said, something to the effect of being in an engine room makes her hot. Maybe Fester has some killer pick up lines.
No telling really, but I would not say it was exactly out of character for her. She seemed to be okay w/ getting caught in the act, even though she turned away from Mal & Fester to get dressed. Could have been an impulse thing that she regretted. *shrugs*
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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***WARNING! IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED, READ NO FURTHER!***
I don't think so. I think that Kaylee is very much like Inara in not having a Puritanical view of sex. She can have fun with it and not attach to much emotion to it. She accepts sex as an act in and of itself, not necessarily bound to the erroneous idea of monogamy being the natural way of things. Just two people who like each other giving each other pleasure in the moment, without worrying about what it means.
Seems like the healthiest possible concept of sex for her to have, IMO. No baggage attached, none of the guilt that today's society teaches us from birth must be associated with it. Like Inara said in HoG (paraphrased): "One of the benefits of not having a Puritanical view of sex is not being embarrassed about it after."
This attitude toward sex is, to me, perfectly in character for Kaylee. She is who she is, no excuses, and accepts others as they are, no excuses.
My $0.02...
~A~
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
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Sorry ~ Multi-post
~A~
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Astriana:
***WARNING! IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED, READ NO FURTHER!***
I don't think so. I think that Kaylee is very much like Inara in not having a Puritanical view of sex. She can have fun with it and not attach to much emotion to it. She accepts sex as an act in and of itself, not necessarily bound to the erroneous idea of monogamy being the natural way of things. Just two people who like each other giving each other pleasure in the moment, without worrying about what it means.
Seems like the healthiest possible concept of sex for her to have, IMO. No baggage attached, none of the guilt that today's society teaches us from birth must be associated with it. Like Inara said in HoG (paraphrased): "One of the benefits of not having a Puritanical view of sex is not being embarrassed about it after."
This attitude toward sex is, to me, perfectly in character for Kaylee. She is who she is, no excuses, and accepts others as they are, no excuses.
My $0.02...
~A~
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
I agree with Astriana. My view of Kaylee is that she was a small town girl that was a mechanical genius. She had aspirations of getting off of her podunk world and see the 'verse. Like Astriana said "she did not have a puritanical view of sex". I also think she has grown up at least a little bit since she joined the crew of Serenity which could lead some to believe that having a quickie on the floor of the engine room was out of character. Don't forget that the act was in the past. Just because she did it then does not mean that she would do the same thing in the present, but I do not think that it would be "out of character" if she did.
May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.
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I disagree--I mean, from the very beginning, Kaylee was always written as having an easy, earthy, almost innocent sensuality and a zest for life. Heck, in the pilot script? She's described as "young, zaftig - as cheery as she is sexy." Which I thought Jewel nailed in her performance. Kaylee is someone who takes joy in life--and takes joy in everything she does. I agree with folks who've said that she doesn't have a puritanical attitude towards sex.
I mean--my God, have you seen the way this girl eats strawberries?
The way I always pictured Kaylee's background was the baby of a large, boistrous family, most likely from if not an ourtight rural background, then close to it. She probably hung out with her brothers and male cousins geeking out over the mechanincs of damn near everything (you know, just like the teenaged car geeks of today), and was probably sexually precoscious and drove her parents up a wall.
She's written and played perfectly by Jewel as boy-crazy, and perhaps confused that her relationship with Simon has gone so differently from what she perhaps expects, and that is a big part of its appeal. The falling for someone before delving into the physical side of intimacy.
I get the feeling that while Kaylee has slept with plenty of boys (even boys she believed she loved), she's a romantic at heart, and has rarely if ever actually fallen in love. Which is also a big part of her and Simon's dynamic, for me. It's new and different and scary and frustrating for *both* of them.
--
Some take the high road. Some take the low road.
And some just go screaming down the highway, dropping flaming bits of wreckage.
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LJC ~ Exactly!!!
~A~
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
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I believe in the concept of "new soul/old soul". Take, for instance, my son...he's almost 15 and is not impressed with anything. He most assuredly has an "old soul". Kaylee, on the other hand, strikes both myself & my husband as having a "new soul"...seeing wonder in everything, taking joy in every new experience, and feeling outright terror in harmful situations. All of her emotions are right there for all to see, thanks to Jewel's phenomenal take on the character of Kaylee. She's not promiscuous, she's just loving life, in all of its forms.
BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."
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I have to go along w/ is being said here too. Seems like the Puritan like approach of most people towards sex now is not shared by the crew of Serenity.
In "Jaynestown" (at least I am pretty sure it was "Jaynestown") Kaylee bids Inara goodbye on her way to a client with "Have great sex". She said it in front of Simon and seemed very sincere and dead pan when she said it. I truly get the feel that she holds sex as something that is natural and enjoyable and not necessarily taboo.
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."
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I'm recalling Heart of Gold where Kaylee wonders whether the boy whores service women. And Objects in Space where she tells River the story of the genically-enhanced 14-year old. I think nearly every episode has something. Nothing as bad as shagging in the engine room, but then that would kill the tension between her and Simon.
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